


An Elaborate Proof

by memorizingthedigitsofpi



Series: An Elaborate Proof [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Academy Era, F/M, Fake Science, Friends to Lovers, Humor, Humour, doesn't get smutty until later chapters, sexy science
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-29
Updated: 2015-02-10
Packaged: 2018-03-09 10:23:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 20,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3246122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/memorizingthedigitsofpi/pseuds/memorizingthedigitsofpi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jemma agrees to proof one of Fitz's papers and accidentally reads the wrong one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Physics of Thor's Hammer and other papers by L. Fitz

"Is this a _real_ paper, or is it just you trying to work something out?" Jemma asked distractedly while she peered into her microscope.

"Simmons!" Fitz gasped, totally affronted. "I would _never_ ask you to proof a paper unless it was important!"

"Really?" Simmons asked, not looking up.

"Of _course_ I wouldn't!" he replied, his voice cracking slightly.

She rolled her eyes and changed slides. "What about last month when you had me read that ridiculous treatise on Newton's First Law of Motion explaining why no one except Thor can lift his hammer?"

Fitz didn't even let her finish her sentence before talking over her, " _That_ is a _valid hypothesis!_ And one that I plan to publish!"

Jemma finally looked up from the scope and raised one eyebrow at him. "Gravitons? _Really_ , Fitz?"

"Uru metal could _very well_ have unknown properties, one of which could be the increased emission of gravitons --"

"We've been through this already, Fitz!"

" -- **to counterbalance the upward force of** \--"

" **They don't exist!** "

"-- **UNWORTHY INDIVIDUALS** \--"

Jemma threw her hands up and sighed, walking to the other side of the lab to clean out the autoclave. There was no reasoning with Fitz when he got like this. You either had to let him finish what he was saying or be prepared to have a huge headache from all the yelling.

Fitz continued ranting for a further two minutes until he felt like he'd made his point. Then, seeing that Simmons had calmed down enough to speak reasonably again, he placed his hands on his hips and said, "Well?"

"I'll pick it up tonight after chem lab."

" _Thank_ you."

\---------------------

Jemma sighed as she picked her way through the laundry strewn across Fitz' floor. Considering how very particular he was about the care and storage of his tools and mechanisms, she could never understand why he cared so little about his other possessions. She supposed he just had a different set of priorities than most people.

When she finally managed to wade her way over to his desk, she puffed up her cheeks and blew out a breath of air. "Oh, Fitz..." How did he ever _find_ anything in here? She swiped half-heartedly amongst the books and papers until she accidentally caused one pile to avalanche off the side. It was hardly a disaster, considering, but she did feel slightly guilty nonetheless. It was when she bent to pick the papers off the floor that she saw it peeking out from under her friend's bed.

 

Her eyes were already starting to glaze over and she hadn't even finished reading the abstract yet. After writing a quick "You OWE me!" note and attaching it to his pillow (the only place in the room where he might actually _see_ it), she took the paper and headed over to the cafe by the library. There was no way she was going to read this without coffee.

Ten minutes after sitting down to read, her coffee sat beside her, forgotten.

\---------------------

Fitz absentmindedly crunched another pretzel as he keyed in the code on his door lock. Dropping his bag on the floor and hitting the lightswitch, he flipped a page in the journal he was reading and shuffled his way over to his bed. He tossed the half-full bag of pretzels on the edge of his desk, still within reach of his pillow, and then kicked off his shoes before flopping down on the mattress.

"What the..." his face scrunched up at the strange feeling under his head. He rooted around a bit and then pulled out a piece of paper with Simmons' neat penmanship on it. "Owe her?" he thought, brow wrinkling in confusion. "What for? She didn't even come and pick up the paper like I asked her to."

Mentally shrugging and figuring she'd let him know when they met for breakfast the next morning, he went back to his article. Stark Industries was doing some very interesting things these days with arc reactors.

\---------------------

Jemma sat, gobsmacked, in the cafe. She knew Fitz tended to be methodical when it came to figuring things out, but this was... He'd definitely outdone himself this time. She was barely two pages into the paper and already her face was flushed bright pink. She should definitely _not_ be reading this in a public place. If she should even be reading it at all! Honestly, _what_ was Fitz _thinking_ giving this to her?

She quickly packed up her things, hiding Fitz's paper in her neurobiology textbook, before stepping out into the night air.

"I won't read it," she decided. "I'll give it back to Fitz and tell him how inappropriate this was, and I won't read it." She bit her lip. "Although he _did_ say it was important..." She shook her head. "No, I won't read it."

Her thoughts continued to sway back and forth for the entire walk back to her dorm room. Just when she'd decided that she did _not_ want to learn certain things about her best friend, a little voice in the back of her head would pipe up reminding her that he _wanted_ her to read it, that he'd _given_ it to her, that he probably didn't realize that sharing this particular biological information with this particular biologist (alright, biochemist, but Fitz didn't make those kinds of distinctions) would create any kind of awkwardness.

Jemma entered her room and turned on the light, placing her bag on the floor at the end of her bed and hanging her jacket up in her closet. It was that last argument that made up her mind for her. Just because every other person she'd ever met would know not to give their best friend a detailed article outlining their ejaculatory emissions didn't mean that Fitz would.

Taking a deep, steadying breath and putting the kettle on to make tea, Jemma sat down on her bed and started to read about the frequency with which Fitz orgasmed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The following sources were used in the writing of this fic:
> 
> * physics of lifting Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, cribbed from a Wired article from Nov. 2014 titled "Finally, Science Explains Why No One Can Lift Thor's Hammer"  
> * pseudo-math paper created by Mathgen (random mathematics paper generator)  
> * pseudo-math re:orgasms provided by Cryptonomicon (written by Neal Stephenson)


	2. Mathturbation

Jemma took a sip from her third cup of tea. She was reading the paper through for the second time, trying to find any holes in the mathematics.

It was brilliant.

She'd read any number of articles over the years regarding the effects of different variables on mental clarity. There was the 1998 McCraty article on music and its effects on cognition. Shram's 2002 work outlining the benefits of acupuncture for acuity. Even Downing's 1988 article on the effects of visual-spatial attention on perceptual quality. None of them approached the problem from the perspective of mathematics, and no article she'd read to date had taken sexual satisfaction into account when measuring human perception.

It was truly astonishing.

It was also more than just a little bit too much information.

According to this article, Fitz experienced his highest degrees of mental clarity in the 6-12 hours directly after orgasm. As time passed without climax, his levels of inspiration and ingenuity decreased, eventually leading to an inability to perform what he considered the most basic aspects of engineering and maths until such time as he was able to ejaculate and clear his mind again.

Simmons couldn't help but think back on any number of times when they'd been together in the lab, stuck on a problem that couldn't be solved, and then suddenly Fitz would grab the answer seemingly out of thin air. It usually happened after he'd taken a break. She thought he was just getting more junk food or taking a quick nap, but what if he'd been....? She blushed as she once again had a mental image that she didn't know what to do with.

The parts that truly stymied her, however, were the charts that detailed the type of "saw tooth" non-sinusoidal waves mentioned in the title of the paper.

The problem wasn't understanding what it represented. The gradual incline of each triangle indicated the time that had passed since Fitz's last... _emission_ and the effect it was having on his cognitive processes. The red line showed the point at which he was no longer able to think clearly. The greyed-in portions highlighted the period of time when he considered himself "useless" and the sharp falls back to the x-axis were the result of a "manual override" (masturbation). All of that was perfectly clear from its description in the article.

No, the problem was that October was just last month. She remembered October. She knew what was happening on each of the days indicated, and she could contextualize the periods of frustration and satisfaction. At the time, she'd thought it was mental frustration, not sexual. On the 8th, he'd been in the infirmary with minor burns after an experiment got away with him. And the 10th of October... that was leading up to their midterm exams and it also appeared to be the beginning of a period of very, _very_ frequent masturbation. At least, in comparison to the rest of the charts.

He even went so far as to quantify the differences in both mental capacity and duration of clarity for "manual overrides" (masturbation) and "nocturnal emissions" (wet dreams). Apparently, they varied quite a bit in their effectiveness, although the sample size for nocturnal emissions was statistically small.

 

Fitz's paper was incomplete. She knew that after the first reading, but now that she'd gotten her bearings and was able to look at it all scientifically instead of constantly being brought up short by the fact that the content was about her best friend's sexual activities, Jemma took out her red pen and started making annotations. At first it was just tweaking his phrasing and telling him the points he needed to further clarify and the variables that needed to be more narrowly defined. These were the usual sorts of edits they made to each other's papers. She knew she was just putting off the notes that really needed to be made, so she took a deep breath and a last sip of tea and wrote what needed to be written.

Breakfast tomorrow certainly was going to be interesting.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All articles found through Google Scholar. No, I didn't read them. But you can!
> 
> * McCraty, R., Barrios-Choplin, B., Atkinson, M., & Tomasino, D. (1998). The effects of different types of music on mood, tension, and mental clarity. Alternative therapies in health and medicine, 4(1), 75-84.  
> * Schram, S. (2002). Tefillin: An ancient acupuncture point prescription for mental clarity. JOURNAL OF CHINESE MEDICINE-HOVE-, 6-8.  
> * Downing, C. J. (1988). Expectancy and visual-spatial attention: effects on perceptual quality. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 14(2), 188.


	3. Recipe for Disaster

Fitz rubbed his hands gleefully over his plate of eggs, bacon, sausage, and buttered toast with a side of porridge. It wasn't what he'd call a full breakfast, but it was the closest he could come in America so he'd relish it all the same. He'd somehow managed to beat Simmons to breakfast this morning for a change, and he was finding it difficult to be gentlemanly and wait for her. He was just deciding to have his porridge for starters when she entered the dining hall. He put his spoon down and waved at her with a tight grin as his stomach rumbled. "Please let her just get cereal today," he hoped fervently.

Simmons waved back and motioned for him to start eating without her.

"Oh thank God," Fitz breathed under his breath, diving into his breakfast with gusto. By the time Simmons joined him, he'd decimated it and had to chew for several seconds before he was able to swallow and give her a proper greeting.

"Morning," he said as she sat down. Then he grabbed another bite of toast.

"Fitz," she answered, sitting down with an odd stiffness in her limbs. "And how are you this morning?" Her tone was extremely formal and she was refusing to look at him even though he was sitting directly across from her.

Fitz frowned. "Why are you being weird?" he asked around his half-chewed toast.

Simmons scoffed loudly, her face twisting into a strange parody of confusion. "Weird?" she asked, her voice going unnaturally high. "I'm not being _weird!_ " Her right hand flopped around like a dead fish as she tried to wave the suggestion away.

Fitz blinked at her, deadpan. "Fine then. Don't tell me." He gestured emphatically with the toast slice still in his hand. "But you're a _terrible_ liar, y'know."

Simmons attempted to look shocked for approximately 0.3 seconds before crumbling. "I know," she sighed, slouching down in her chair and stirring her oatmeal around in its bowl, still not meeting his eyes.

He let her sit there morosely for the duration of two pieces of bacon, an egg, and half a sausage. Then, he reached his foot across the floor and gently tapped her shin. His eyebrows rose practically to his hairline when she jumped almost out of her seat. "Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

She looked up then, meeting his concerned gaze, but her face flushed bright pink and she immediately looked down again. "It's nothing," she said rather unconvincingly. Then she looked up again and pasted a smile on her face. "I'll be fine."

Fitz's brow furrowed in genuine concern now. "But..."

"I just had trouble sleeping is all," she continued, not giving him a chance to speak. "So I'm a bit out of sorts." She smiled again and this time it seemed more genuine.

"You're sure?" he asked.

"Mmhmm," she nodded and then started in on her breakfast.

"Alright then," Fitz said, satisfied and willing to let it go. "Now how come you didn't meet me at the chem lab last night?"

Now it was Simmons' turn to be confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you said you'd pick up my paper at the chem lab. Well, I was there til after 10 o'clock and you didn't come by."

Simmons' confusion only deepened. "I didn't say _at the_ chem lab. I said _after_ chem lab. As in, after our chem lab yesterday afternoon, I'd come and pick it up."

Fitz shook his head. " _No_ , you said _at the_ chem lab because you knew I was meeting Dr. Weaver after class yesterday, and I always spend Thursday nights _at the lab_."

Simmons let out a groan of frustration. "Does it really matter _where_ I got the paper, as long as I got it?" she sighed.

"How'd you get it?"

"I found it on your desk."

Now it was Fitz's turn to groan. "That was the _rough_ version!" He threw up his hands in frustration. "I've worked on it loads more since then!"

Simmons' eyebrows took their own stroll up towards her hairline. " _Really?_ "Her jaw stayed open as well.

"Of _course_ I have!" he gestured with his tea cup this time, almost spilling the contents over the rim. "I couldn't very well submit it the way it was!"

Simmons blinked and opened her mouth to say something, then seemed to change her mind. Clearing her throat, she carefully placed her spoon into her half-eaten bowl of porridge. Once again, she spoke in the overly-formal tone she used when she was either upset or extremely uncomfortable. "Well, I've already suggested changes on the copy I read yesterday. I suggest you read through those to see if there are any you wish to incorporate in your next draft. Meanwhile, I'll take the one you were going to give me yesterday and review that."

Fitz grinned widely at her. "You're the best, Simmons!" He jumped up and scrambled through his bag for the paper. "I'm sorry you have to do it twice, but now I owe you double, right?"

She took a deep breath and smiled back at him. "Right."

"Okay, I've got to go to Professor Vaughn's class now, but I'll see you at lunch yeah?" he passed her a folder and grabbed the one she offered in exchange. "You're the best, Simmons!" he called over his shoulder one more time on his way out the door.

Poor thing. She really looked...

Looked...

Lo...

Fitz froze halfway down the steps of the dining hall as he read the comment Simmons had written at the top of the paper he'd done on the oxidation reduction potentials of organic systems.

Shit.

This was _not_ the paper he'd done on the oxidation reduction potentials of organic systems.

"Is this what an aneurysm feels like?"


	4. You Ever Just Run Out of Swear Words?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I ran out of swear words in the writing of this chapter. (If you'd like me to add more, feel free to leave suggestions)

Jemma had steeled herself for her breakfast with Fitz, unsure if she could even look her friend in the face with the facts she now had roaming around in her brain. Sure, she could have assumed that he indulged in masturbatory pastimes if the thought had ever occurred to her, but it hadn't. As much as her classes in biology had taught her, she'd never really given so much as a passing thought to the fact that Fitz even _had_ genitals, let alone that he might _do_ anything with them. So it was with some surprise that she found that she could not only look at Fitz, she could even have a somewhat normal conversation with him.

Until, that is, he gave her a revised copy of his paper. With "loads more" work done on it.

She was suddenly overcome with a mental image of Fitz masturbating with one hand and holding a stop watch in the other, waiting to record not just the time to achieve orgasm but also the volume of the ejaculate and the distance it achieved upon emission.

"Where on _earth_ is he planning to submit this?" she whispered to herself, not for the first time.

Giving up on breakfast entirely, she packed Fitz's folder with its revised paper into her bag. She'd just have to ask him at lunch. For now, she had a dozen Petri dishes to check up on.

\--------------------

Fitz closed his dorm room door and leaned against it, breathing deeply. He had never run that fast before in his life, and he hoped that he never would again. Closing his eyes, he slid down to sit on the floor. Then he started hitting his head against the door and swearing.

 _Thunk._ "Shit."

 _Thunk._ "Fuck."

 _Thunk._ "Cunty," _thunk_ , "buggery," _thunk_ , "fucktoley," _thunk_ , " **bumshite**!" _Thunkthunk_ _thunk!_

A concerned knock sounded on the wall to his right. "You alright in there Fitz?"

"Yes, thanks!" he shouted back over to his neighbour with feigned enthusiasm. "Stupid bloody walls as thin as paper," he muttered bitterly to himself. Then he slowly crawled forward to the middle of his floor and lay facedown amid the textbooks and laundry.

He wondered how long he could stay in his room before someone (probably Simmons) noticed and dragged him out ... or they kicked him out of the Academy for skipping classes.

He pulled the blanket off his bed, rolled it up into a vaguely pillow shape and buried his face in it.

 **"COCK!"** he shouted at the top of his lungs.

This time, his neighbour left him well enough alone.

\--------------------

Approximately 60 minutes, 3000 curses, 1200  _thunks_ , and one rather large headache later, Fitz gathered up enough will to live to drag himself up off the floor and onto his bed.

" _How_ am I **ever** going to talk to Simmons again?!" he asked himself for the hundredth time. Or was it the thousandth? He'd stopped counting after 37 because it wasn't helping matters at all.

It had taken him the last hour to fully process the fact that Simmons had read his paper on... on... on _that_. Now, he was moving on to the fact that she'd _edited_ it.

" _How_ did she...?" His face screwed up in a mixture of confusion and disgust. Friends should _not_ read about friends' masturbatory pastimes.

" **Why** did she...?!" He raked his hands through his hair, practically pulling it out. _Best_ friends are apparently willing to do it anyway.

He covered his face, groaning in pain once again. "I will never, _ever,_ **ever** be able to make this up to her."

He writhed around in agony so much that he rolled back off his bed and onto the floor again.

_"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck!"_

\--------------------

It was another 30 minutes and around 900 more swear words before Fitz roused himself from the floor this time. His stomach still felt somewhat like Edward Scissorhands had punched him in the gut, but at least the feeling that his body was turning itself inside out via his navel had lessened.

He took his paper out from where he'd stuffed it in his bag. It was now rather crumpled and partly ripped in places, despite the protective folder Simmons had put on it. He had a feeling she did that more to cover what it contained than to protect it. Taking a deep breath, he once more looked at the top of the page.

 

 "Oh god," he moaned. If there had been any blood left in his face, it would have drained out. "This isn't some horrible nightmare." He rolled the paper up into a tube and started smacking himself in the forehead with it a bit before giving up. If the wooden door and the concrete floor hadn't managed to give him a concussion, then a rolled up bunch of A4 probably wouldn't do the job.

Too bad. If he had a massive brain injury it might, _might_ , go some way to getting him out of this mess.

He was just about to continue down the page when something stuck out at him.

 

" _Let's talk,_ " he whispered hoarsely. He'd seen enough television shows and movies to know those were two words you never wanted to hear.

Fitz crawled into bed and flopped down face-first, pulling his blanket up and over his head and wishing he could disappear entirely.

There weren't enough swear words in the world to adequately express his feelings.


	5. Putting the Do in To Do List

Jemma pulled out her phone and dialed Fitz's number as she packed her notes into her bag. It rang a few times as she walked down the hallway, and she was just thinking it would go to his voicemail when she heard him pick up.

"Hey, F--"

"I'MSOSORRY!"

She stopped in her tracks and her hand shot reflexively away from her ear as the decibel level threatened to cause damage. "Fitz?"

"Simmons!"

She brought her hand slowly back, but still left a few centimeters of leeway in case things got loud again.

"Simmons, I'm so so _so so **so so**_ **SORRY!** "

"Fitz! Calm down!" She was trying to remember the last time he'd been this apologetic, and she was drawing a complete blank. Even the time when he'd set actual fire to her actual bed that she was actually sitting on, he hadn't sounded this upset. She was instantly covered in a feeling of absolute dread and started walking rapidly again. "What have you done?"

"You _know_ what I've done!" Fitz wailed through the phone. She could hear a strange thunking in the background. _" **You've read it!** "_

Now she was truly confused. "Of course I read it, Fitz! You _asked_ me to!" She pushed her way out the building's front door with more force than she would usually use. Maybe he'd realized that it might be inappropriate to just spring this on someone?

Oh god. _What if he'd shown it to Dr. Weaver?_

"NOOOOOO!" Fitz shouted, and she had to move her hand away from her ear again. This was ridiculous. They'd talked about voice regulation over the phone.

"Fitz..."

"Jemma!" Okay, if he was calling her _Jemma_ , things were getting serious indeed. "Simmons," he began again and the strain of speaking calmly was clear in his voice. "Have you looked at the paper I gave you at breakfast yet?"

Jemma rolled her eyes. "I _do_ have things to do besides proof your papers for you, Fitz!"

"So you haven't then?"

"No, but..."

"Just read the title of it, please?"

Jemma sighed and started counting to ten as she crossed the quad.

" _Please_ , Simmons?"

"Fine," she gave in. "One second, I just have to get it out of my bag." She could actually _hear_ the stress in Fitz's breathing on the other end of the line as she rustled through her things. "Alright, I've got it."

"Just read the title is all, right?"

" _Yes_ , Fitz, I..."

"... this isn't the paper I read last night."

"No," Fitz agreed vehemently. "No, it's _not._ "

"This is --"

"-- my term paper for Dr. Franklin's class. _Yes_. I'm getting started early, like you're always telling me I should."

"But then the paper I read last night..." Jemma said, horror overtaking her as she started up the steps of the dormitory.

Fitz groaned. "Never meant it to see the light of day."

"Oh Fitz!" her heart dropped down into her stomach. "I'm so sorry!"

"No! **I'm** sorry! I shouldn't have bloody well _written_ the damn thing, let alone _printed it out!_ "

"No, Fitz!" her whole body felt like it was simultaneously numb and crawling with ants. "I'm the one who went into your room and took it." She punched in the door code and hung up the phone. " **I'm** sorry."

Fitz looked up from his pile of blankets on the bed and Jemma's gut twisted again. "Simmons, I --" He looked horrible. She had to fix this.

Pasting a smile on her face, Jemma bent down and picked a text book off the floor and put it on a shelf. "Alright, look," she started brusquely. "We both did stupid things and there are regrets and apologies all round, okay?" She gathered up some clothes and piled them into a laundry bag. "You're embarrassed that I read about your..." she looked at him out of the corner of her eye and then quickly turned and straightened a pile of papers on his desk. "... and I was embarrassed when I started reading it." She took a deep breath and turned to face him again. "But it really _is_ brilliant, Fitz!" her smile this time was genuine.

Fitz lay in his bed and stared up at her, totally dumbfounded. His jaw worked up and down a few times before he was finally able to get anything out. "W-what?"

Jemma sat down next to him and tried not to react when he immediately sat up straighter and put some extra space between them. "You've managed to pinpoint a variable in your thought process that seems to be a trigger point for ingenuity! Do you know what this _means_?"

Fitz unclenched slightly and some colour came back into his cheeks. "Well... I mean..." he tried to look nonchalant and failed miserably.

"You've now got a step you can take any time you get stuck in your work!"

He brightened up considerably at that point. "I suppose I do, yeah!"

Jemma's face lit up. "The next time we're bogged down at the lab at 2am, I know what I'll want _you_ to be doing," she laughed.

Fitz returned the laugh for a moment before abruptly stopping. "Wait, what?"

"We really should do some more detailed testing, though," Jemma continued, taking a notepad and pen out of her bag to jot down notes.

" _We_?"

She was talking more to herself now, but still out loud. "Most efficient means of arousal... the affects of various settings on comfort level and ability to perform... most effective lubricant..."

" **Simmons!** " Fitz's voice cracked as he got her attention.

"Hmm?" she looked up from her list, but her mind was still preoccupied. "We'll have to make sure whatever you use won't impact our experiments." She tapped her pen against her cheek for a moment. "What kind of pornography do you prefer?"

Fitz's face clouded over. "Just kill me, Simmons. Please. It'll be kinder."

Jemma had already stopped paying attention to him. She needed to work on a supply list.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of Fitz's real paper is from a real paper. Here it is!
> 
> Gadisa, A., Svensson, M., Andersson, M. R., & Inganäs, O. (2004). Correlation between oxidation potential and open-circuit voltage of composite solar cells based on blends of polythiophenes/fullerene derivative. Applied Physics Letters, 84(9), 1609-1611.


	6. A Sticky Situation

Fitz sat rather uncomfortably on his bed, wondering how he'd been talked into this.

"Are you ready, Fitz?" Simmons called out from his bathroom.

Fitz looked down at the electrodes covering his arms and torso. "I think so?" he called back weakly. Total lie. He'd be going to hell... if he weren't already there.

"You want me to come check?" his best friend asked solicitously.

Fitz's face contorted into panic. "No!" he shouted. "I mean," he cleared his throat. "I mean, no I'm fine. But thanks!" At least he _thought_ he'd put them on correctly. Simmons had offered to put them on for him, but he'd requested she just draw him a schematic instead.

Was it called a schematic when it was for bodies?

"Alright, I'm turning you on now!"

Fitz snorted. "Trust me," he muttered to himself. "You're really _really_ not."

"Have you started already?" Simmons asked, a hint of accusation in her voice.

"What? No!" There was literally nothing that was further from his mind right now than... starting.

"It's just I'm trying to get a good baseline here, and your heart rate is already elevated, that's all."

"Yeah, that's _because_ ," Fitz sighed and grabbed his tshirt, putting it back on. "Look, can you just come out here? I don't want to have to shout."

Simmons exited the bathroom looking rather surprised. "Did you just say that you don't want to shout?"

He rolled his eyes at her. "Haha. I _mean_ I don't want to shout about _this_ ," he gestured at his lap. "You know how thin these walls are!"

"You're the one who insisted I go in the bathroom to begin with!"

Fitz's palms smacked loudly against his face.

"If I monitor you from in here," she continued, "we won't have to shout at all. _And_ I can make sure that the electrodes are properly positioned and secured."

" **And** ," Fitz added, his voice tight with frustration, "You'll be watching me..." he trailed off helplessly, replacing words with an eloquent gesture, the type of which he never thought he'd be showing to the woman standing in front of him.

Simmons turned slightly pink at the sight of the gesture. "True," she conceded graciously. "But it's not as if I haven't seen it before."

Fitz looked horrified and pulled his pillow over into his lap. "You've _what_?" When had she seen _that?_

Now it was Simmons' turn to roll her eyes. "Not _you_ ," she explained. "But... you know," she cleared her throat and found something utterly fascinating to look at out the window. When Fitz refused to acknowledge that he knew, she continued _._ "I _have_ had boyfriends before..."

He couldn't argue with her on that point. He'd met a few of them. If that's what she expected from a guy, then perhaps he should grab another pillow. And maybe a parka.

"Oh, c'mon Fitz!" she wheedled.

Does she not realize she's actually asking him to strip down to his electrodes and wank himself in front of her? "C'mon Fitz!" he repeated in a ridiculous falsetto.

"I don't sound like that!"

"And I don't wank in front of my best friend!"

"How else are we supposed to get the data?"

"I don't know! But we're not getting it this way!"

Simmons' jaw set with determination. "Fine." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll think of another way, then."

"Fine." Fitz stared at the floor, not sure how they ended up in a fight but pretty sure it was his fault.

"Can I get my electrodes back please?" Simmons asked, all business.

He looked up at her, an apology written on his face. "Sure. Let me just..." he pointed at the bathroom. He was already ruining her experiment. He wasn't going to force her into his bathroom again.

She opened her mouth to say something but closed it again with a weak smile. "Of course."

Fitz closed the door and took off his shirt. He tried pulling the first electrode off, but it seemed to want to take his skin with it. "Um. Simmons?" he called, a bit of desperation leaking into his voice. "I think I might need your help after all."

\-----------------

Jemma lay in bed trying to think of alternatives to her electrode system for tracking Fitz's vitals. She needed to be able to get readings of his heart rate and hormone levels before, during, and after masturbation but between the disaster that happened this evening and the look on his face when she'd told him about taking blood samples... She sighed. He was _much_ less cooperative than the monkeys she occasionally worked with.

Perhaps they could put their heads together and design something? There were already numerous personal training devices that could be worn to track heart rates, so really they were halfway there before they'd even started. She sat up and moved to her desk and started sketching out her idea.

Yes. This would be much better than the electrodes. She'd be able to get readings from him in a much less disruptive way which would increase his  comfort level and allow him to do what needs must.

Those electrodes. She tutted. They had _not_ been a good idea. Especially the part where he attached them himself. It took them nearly half an hour to get them all off, what with all of his wincing and screaming. It was only when she'd sarcastically offered to kiss it and make it better that he'd clammed up quieter than she'd ever seen him before.

Looking back now, she could see why he'd turned so red.

She'd been rather red-faced as well. It wasn't every day you spent a large amount of time touching your shirtless best friend. If only he'd listened to her, none of that would have been necessary!

Jemma returned to her sketches. Yes. This would be _much_ better than the electrodes. Much, much better.

If she could only focus long enough to get it designed.


	7. Sample Size

Fitz lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Just last night, everything had been normal.

Now, Simmons was planning out a masturbation schedule for him, complete with different types of 'stimuli.'

He groaned at their interaction earlier. "She was actually going to _stay_ and _watch_ ," he shook his head in amazement. He knew she wasn't exactly squeamish when it came to bodies, but still.

Those stupid bloody electrodes. His skin was still a bit sore from where they'd been attached. "And offering to kiss it better!" She'd said it sarcastically, referencing once again the fact that she didn't want to be his mum. The problem was, he was standing in front of her half-naked after spending most of the afternoon discussing sex. When she'd said that, his _mum_ was the last thing he was thinking of.

Fitz groaned again, this time into his hands as they covered his face. Simmons had cropped up in his mind from time to time when he'd been... taking care of things. She was a brilliant, caring, gorgeous young woman, and she could keep up with him. Why _wouldn't_ he think of her on occasion?

Unfortunately, Fitz now had a problem. Now he knew what her hands felt like on his body. And not just in the friendly way they usually were, or for first aid like they'd been on a few memorable occasions. No, now he knew what her soft, gentle fingers felt like rubbing his bare chest and back. It didn't matter that she was just trying to soothe the pain from where the electrodes had stuck.

The only good to come out of that fiasco was that she'd turned the monitoring device off before she'd come to help him. He didn't need her seeing how his heart sped up every time she touched him.

\-----------------

Jemma blew an errant lock of hair out of her face. She wasn't getting any further with her monitoring device design, but she knew she wouldn't be able to do any more until Fitz had chimed in with his engineering expertise. What was bothering her now was the difficulty she was having in designing a proper course of research. There were just so many variables to consider, and Fitz wasn't being as forthcoming as she might like. He'd come around, she knew, but once she started in on a project, she hated having any delays.

"Why won't he just _tell_ me, already?" she complained to herself. She was scanning several different pornographic websites, looking for things she thought might be appealing to her best friend. She had a folder full of pictures and videos started on her desktop but really the whole process would be a lot faster if he'd just give her some basic parameters to work within.

Jemma clicked rather fiercely on a thumbnail showing what was apparently supposed to be a chemistry lab but was clearly odds and ends someone had set up on a counter.

"Oh," she said softly as the video started playing. It wasn't the set that was catching her attention now. "Oh _my,"_ she gasped, breathing slightly faster as the actors performed on the screen. She could feel her face flush and her heart rate increase as she licked her lips and leaned further into the screen.

It was her increased pulse that caught her attention away from the video. She glanced over at the electrodes, now packaged up and sitting on her desk.

"If Fitz won't give me data, I'll just have to increase his sample size," she smiled smugly and started unbuttoning her shirt.

\-----------------

 Fitz lay in bed staring at his hard penis. For the first time in his experience, he wasn't sure what to do with it.

"Do I call Simmons and let her know?" he asked himself. After a few seconds of thinking how that conversation might go, he shook his head. He also watched as his cock drooped slightly. Awkwardness was a total boner-killer.

"What was the data she wanted me to collect?" He took out the medkit that every dorm room was supplied with and poked around inside. There was a finger-clamp pulse monitor, that'd do he supposed. Nothing much else seemed of help, so he started casting his gaze around his room.

Measuring tape! That was one of the data points he'd been rather resistant to recording. He understood that the length and girth of erections could vary depending on arousal levels, but that didn't mean he wanted _Simmons_ to know those particular details. But, he still felt bad about their argument, and if it's what she wanted...

Now he just needed... His eye caught on a box near the top of his bookshelf. It was full of the pieces of an experiment they hadn't yet gotten round to performing but were planning to do over Christmas break, if not before. Reaching in, he took out a sample jar.

Laying the various accoutrements on the bed around him, he grabbed a notebook and a pen to record the data. 

Fitz took a deep breath.

Time to do some fucking science!

\-----------------

 Jemma folded her jeans over a hanger and hung them up in her closet. Then, she placed her shirt and underthings in her laundry basket. She turned off the main light in her room but kept her bedside lamp turned on and then crawled under her covers, naked save for the electrodes she'd attached to herself. 

Making herself comfortable, she placed her laptop on one side of her and her notebook and pen on the other. She'd decided that this first time she would use only her natural lubricant and her fingers. This would be a sort of "baseline" orgasm. The type she had when she wasn't making a production of things but just trying to release some tension. Giving one last look at her notebook, she nodded to herself.

Time to collect some data.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as far as I know, that "chemistry lab" is not from a porno... just from a google image search


	8. Ups and Downs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Explicit content follows. I just bumped the rating from T to M. Let me know if I need to bump it again?  
> (seriously though, I go into detail about masturbation here - you've been warned)

Fitz lay down on his bed and closed his eyes. Breathing deeply, he started gently massaging the patches on his skin where the electrodes had been stuck. His calloused fingers were thicker and rougher than his best friend's, but he moved them over his chest as softly as he could, remembering how hers had felt that afternoon. He remembered how she smelled, like Pears soap and strawberry shampoo and some chemicals from the lab.

He thought of her birthday when he'd gotten her a TARDIS signed by David Tennant and how she'd hugged him so tight the breath had escaped his lungs.

And that time after midterms when she'd been playing pool in the Boiler Room and her skirt had ridden up.

And when she started to get tired after a few hours of studying and stretched her arms above her head, pushing her breasts up and out and raising the hem of her shirt to reveal a strip of skin.

And the way her nose scrunched up when she thought he was funny.

And the way her face got all red when they argued and sometimes her hair would fall out of its elastic, but she'd just push it out of the way and shout right back at him until she'd proven him wrong.

And that time when they'd been walking back to campus from town and a storm had broken out, drenching them in rain and allowing him to see right through her shirt... until he'd given her his plaid button-down to cover up. But that was good, too. They'd found a doorway and shivered together: her trying to get a wet shirt over her wet skin, him feeling self-conscious about how his t-shirt was clinging to him.

His hand had wandered down past his hips when he thought about her skirt, and remembering that sudden rain shower had him grasping his cock with a certain urgency and tugging it with a practiced grip. He was fully hard and not at all interested in stopping for measurements.

"Want me to kiss it better for you?" he remembered, but this time she wasn't saying it sarcastically. She was saying it seductively. And she wasn't talking about his superficial wounds, she was talking about his aching cock.

'Fuck yeah, Simmons, kiss it better for me!" he whispered hoarsely. Spitting on his hand, he mixed it with the precum already leaking from the slit at the head of his cock and used the slick wetness to allow him to increase his pace.

Simmons had such a sweet face, and those perfect juicy lips... He moaned loud and long at the thought of them wrapped around the head of his cock. Fitz pictured her there, hovering over his legs on his bed, stroking his cock with one hand while her tongue teased the head.

"Mmm... Fiiiitz... you taste so _good_..."

His hips jerked up against his hand and his fingers squeezed a bit harder. His other hand came down and stroke his balls and thighs lightly as he imagined what it would feel like to have her long brown hair tickle him there.

"Please Fitz... I want it all!" she looked at him, those big brown eyes piercing right into him.

Fitz felt the coiled wire in his gut start to spring and he flailed a hand out looking for the sample jar.

...

When it was over, he looked at his cum-splattered hand that held the mostly-empty jar. He'd gotten more of it on his own stomach than he had in the plastic receptacle.

"Sorry Simmons," he thought to himself as he reached to the floor for a stray sock to wipe up with. "Looks like you won't be getting it all this time. "

He sighed and picked up his notebook. That could have gone better. At least from a research standpoint.

From a wanking standpoint, it'd been fucking _brilliant_.

\-------------------

Jemma restarted the video on her laptop and settled back against her pillow. The plot was absolutely ridiculous and the "science" was laughable, but the actors were quite attractive and good at what they were doing. She bit her lip as the woman in the film kissed one man while another reached under her skirt and removed her panties. _Two_ men was something Jemma had never considered before.

She closed her eyes brushed her fingertips over her lips, pretending they were a kiss. "Oh, I _miss_ kissing." She'd broken up with her last boyfriend back in the spring and hadn't had the time or the inclination to get another one since. Opening her eyes again, she watched as one of the men kissed his way up the woman's thighs and then slide his tongue inside her.

She might have to reconsider that boyfriend thing.

Jemma slid one hand up from her thigh to her breast, teasing her nipples as she watched both men kiss and lick the breasts on the screen. She closed her eyes again, squeezing her legs together and exercising her Kegel muscles. Her other hand trailed across her thigh and over her stomach  before moving down into the hair on her mound. Her hips circled up and she gasped in anticipation of what was to come.

The hand on her breast teased her nipples with a little more roughness as she tried to remember what her ex-lovers' fingers felt like.

The hand on her muff moved downwards, her middle finger splitting her lips and finding the wetness between them before moving back up to stroke her clit. 

She took a deep, shuddering breath and pulled her nipple a bit harder as her hips shot up looking for more contact. Her middle finger wiggled up and down on her clit a few times before she moved her fingers down and pushed two of them inside her.

She bit her lip again, this time letting out a moan that ended in a squeak.

She was _definitely_ aroused.

Removing her fingers, Jemma looked over at the readout on her monitor. It was showing irregular blips that had nothing to do with the heartbeats she could feel hammering in her chest.

"Damn!" Looking down, she realized that she'd accidentally removed two of the electrodes during her self-stimulation and none of the data were being recorded.

She sat there panting for a moment, trying to decide what she wanted to do.

"Oh, sod it!" she grumbled, giving up on the equipment. She didn't want to stop now.

Moving back into a comfortable position, she once more started teasing her nipples and her pussy, but her arousal had leveled off while she fiddled with her equipment. She tried for a few more minutes, but as each moment passed her frustration outweighed her pleasure. She finally had to either give up or deal with some unfortunate chafing.

"Well, that's just great!" she fumed. "No data _and_ no orgasm!" She packed the electrodes away again. "If I never see you again, it'll be too soon!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No pictures this time because I'm not sure if I should put in ones that are NSFW. Thoughts?


	9. What's the Lady Equivalent of Blue Balls?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two chapters tonight because the other one was so short!

Fitz was feeling quite chipper the next morning as he brought his tray over to where Simmons was already sitting. She had a massive cup of coffee in place of her usual tea and she was picking at an extremely gooey-looking cinnamon bun instead of her usual scone, fruit, and yoghurt.

"Everything alright?" he asked as he sat down.

Jemma sighed but didn't look up. "Fiiine," she answered with a bit of an edge to her voice.

Fitz nodded and started tucking into his food. "So I had a few ideas about the dendrotoxin delivery system we've been working on, and --"

Jemma's head flew up and she pierced him with a glare. "Really?" she asked in tones so clipped she could cut someone with them.

Fitz's eyes darted left and right, looking at his escape options. "Yeah?" he replied, voice cracking slightly at the end.

"You just," Jemma leaned forward and narrowed her eyes at him, " _had a few ideas_ " Her fingers quoted the words.

"I don't sound like that!"

"You _wanker_!"

"What? What did I do?" Fitz leaned back in his chair, worried she might take a swing.

Jemma looked around, aware that she was drawing attention. Clearing her throat, she sat up straighter and modulated her tone. "You _wanked_ , didn't you?" She raised one eyebrow, daring him to deny it.

Fitz blushed red to the roots of his curly hair. Damn it! Why did she have to read that bloody, stupid paper? Now every time he had a good idea, she'd think he'd just been tossing one off. "What makes you say that?" he asked in an overly casual tone, not meeting her eyes.

"Answer the question, Fitz!"

Fitz sighed in defeat. "Alright, _yes_." As long as she didn't ask him what he'd been thinking of, it'd be alright. He wasn't sure how he'd explain that one.

Jemma laughed slightly bitterly. "Of _course_ you did," she said under her breath. Sometimes life just wasn't fair. Like times when you'd spent half the ruddy night trying to give yourself a damned orgasm to no avail and then your best friend came to breakfast all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after tossing one off like it was nothing. Bloody _men._

To her friend she said, "Did you get the data we'd discussed collecting?"

Fitz gulped his orange juice awkwardly and started sputtering. Shit. He was hoping he'd have more time to try again before she asked.

Jemma stood up and rubbed his back soothingly. "I'll take that as a no, then."

Fitz nodded sheepishly as the coughing subsided and Simmons sat back down. "Sorry," he apologized, giving her his best puppy dog look. When she remained unmoved, he shrugged and explained. "It's just that it's hard to..." he looked around at the students around them, "... _multitask_ at that particular time."

Jemma nodded back. "I _completely_ agree," she said with feeling. Every time she'd tried to gather data, she'd lost her chance at orgasm. To say that she was now on edge would be putting it mildly. Not even her vibrator had helped her, and Peter Rabbit had never let her down before.

Fitz chewed his food thoughtfully for a moment or two. Simmons was on the money when she said that determining the best possible release was an important factor missing from his research, he just wasn't sure ho-- "Wait a second," he suddenly realized, looking up at his best friend in surprise. "You said that like you knew what I meant!" he jabbed a finger in her direction accusingly.

Jemma met his gaze, unperturbed. "Well of _course_ I did, Fitz."

Fitz's triumph at catching her out wavered as she failed to panic.

"I mean," Jemma continued calmly, taking a sip of her coffee. "I had the exact same experience."

Fitz's eyes widened again. Did she mean... "Do you mean...?"

Jemma replaced her cup on the table with a slight clink against her plate. "I _mean_ , I attempted my own data collection last night and was unable to achieve any results." Her cheeks pinked slightly as she finished. She wasn't embarrassed of what she'd done, just that she'd failed in accomplishing her goal.

Fitz's brows knit as he considered that sentence. "Does that mean you didn't _record_ any results? Or that you didn't get any results _to_ record?" He couldn't believe he'd just asked Simmons if she'd managed to get herself off last night. There was being able to talk to your best friend about anything, and then there was _this_.

"Unfortunately," Jemma started to gather her dishes neatly onto her tray, arranging them just so. "I was unable to record my results _because_ there were no results. At all." She looked across at her friend, a slightly desperate look in her eyes. "It's driving me mad, Fitz!" I get so close, and then... nothing! If I didn't know better, I'd think I was broken.

Fitz put a hand on her wrist in a comforting gesture. "Maybe try it again, but without worrying about research?" he suggested gently. He couldn't help looking at her hand under his and wondering what she did with it when she was.... No! Bad Fitz! Not now!

"I already did!" Jemma practically wailed. She covered Fitz's hand with her own and gave it a squeeze, stopping him before he spoke again. "I'll be fine, Fitz." She smiled wanly. "Just please excuse my temper today. I feel like an absolute bear!"

"Understood!" Fitz grinned back, standing to take both of their trays to the dish rack. "And now I know that when you rip my head off, it's just because you're horny!"

Jemma reached out to smack him, but he was already out of reach.

\-------------------

Four hours of class later, Jemma was even more keyed up than she had been at breakfast. She and Fitz were in the lab, working out the kinks in one of their many projects, but she was having a hard time concentrating. _Everything_ was making her think of sex.

Her lab partner wasn't making things any easier, either.

Jemma sat on her stool, an expression of polite interest on her face as Fitz explained the technical aspects of his idea. She was having a difficult time paying attention, however, because his hands were doing the most distracting things.

She watched as his fingers moved so quickly and delicately as his hands came together. She couldn't help wondering what they would feel like on her skin... moving up her thighs, trailing down her arms, moving over her stomach and hips until they finally met in the centre...

A slight moan escaped her lips before she could stop it.

Fitz looked at her for the first time since his monologue had begun. "Sorry, didn't mean to go on like that," he rubbed the back of his neck in contrition.

Simmons cleared her throat and tried to refocus. "Oh, no! It's not that," she replied brightly. "I'm just getting a bit... peckish."

Fitz looked at his watch. "Lunchtime!" he said joyously. "Why'd you let me keep prattling on like that when we could have been getting some food?"

Jemma smiled weakly. "Oh, you know..." she blushed slightly at the thoughts that were still going through her head. "Reasons."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that's right, guys! I can post GIFS!!  
> ... although just one per chapter it seems. So this isn't the direction I was originally going in, but hey.  
> Here's the whole photoset on tumblr if that piques your interest: http://memorizingthedigitsofpi.tumblr.com/post/109949718172


	10. Opposite Ends of the Spectrum

Jemma sighed and brushed her hair out of her face. She wiggled slightly in her desk chair, the mild throbbing between her legs causing a constant distraction. She could feel that her heart rate was elevated slightly above normal and there was adrenaline in her system that would usually not be present when she was writing a paper. She flexed her Kegel muscles repeatedly in the hopes of creating some much-needed friction. 

"Stop it, Jemma," she admonished herself. "This is an opportunity for research." Maybe if she repeated it enough times, she'd believe herself. She squeezed her thighs together again. Maybe not. 

She placed both feet firmly on the floor and sat with her back ramrod straight as she typed. "Focus!"

Looking up from her computer, Jemma gazed out the window at the quad. It was a surprisingly nice day for November, and some of the cadets were playing Frisbee. She watched the running and jumping and tackling for a while, leaning forward to get a better look. "Too bad it's November," she murmured. "They could be playing shirts versus skins." Her mind wandered in that direction for a few minutes and when she pulled herself back to reality, she was teasing a nipple through her shirt. 

"Damn it!"

Taking quite a large sip of quite strong tea, she tried to return to her work. 

"Oh, this is ridiculous!" she fumed, standing up from her chair and stomping her foot. "I can't even form a coherent bloody  _sentence_!"

Closing her eyes, she forced herself to breathe deeply several times. "Calm down, Jemma" she soothed herself. "You are  _not_ a slave to your hormones."

Too bad closing her eyes only helped her remember that afternoon.

She honestly couldn't remember what he'd been talking about at that moment. She just knew that the way his hands came together so forcefully like that made her think of other things coming together. She whimpered slightly to herself. "Remember Jemma, if you don't do this now you'll just have to do it later."

Jemma bit her lower lip and shook her head roughly to rid it of those thoughts. Then, she grabbed her towel and headed to the bathroom for a very,  _very_ cold shower. 

\---------------------

Fitz sat at his lab bench considering Simmons' monitor bracelet idea. It wasn't bad, but it  _was_ rather obvious. He didn't really relish other students asking them what their matching wrist bands were for. 

He read her notes outlining the data she wanted to collect and looked back at the cuff again. If he could reduce the size...

Moving over to the holotable, Fitz threw the bracelet up and started pulling it apart. Most of it was casing that could be got rid of easily enough with a few tweaks of materials here and there. Next, he started in on miniaturizing the components, running tests on each iteration as it got smaller and smaller. His mind whirred quickly as he shredded the pieces down to their barest essentials and then put them back together again and again in every configuration of size, components, and materials he could think of. 

Once the device was as small as he could make it, he had to decide the best method of concealment. 

He looked up at the clock. Almost 3am. The time really got away with him when the ideas started flowing. He'd have to go to bed now or else be useless in the morning. 

Saving his work, he packed up his things for the short walk back to his dorm. He'd run it past Simmons. She always knew what to do. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The device Fitz is making actually exists! http://www.talk2myshirt.com/blog/archives/1650 (and is also the source of that photo)


	11. Getting Fitz Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's short, but I wanted to post something since I didn't last night. More to come when I get home from work!

Jemma knocked on her friend's door, waited impatiently for a moment, and then knocked again. "Fitz!" she whisper-shouted. "Fitz are you up?"

She glanced along the hallway apprehensively. She knew from past experiences that being too loud on a Saturday morning lead to... unpopularity. At least for a short while. But she _needed_ to talk to Fitz. Sighing, she keyed in his door code and entered his room. Better the wrath of a single Scotsman than the ire of the entire floor.

She reached for the main light in the room and then remembered what had happened the last time she'd done that to Fitz. Did she really want to have to dodge all those pillows right now? She thought about it briefly but then remembered that time there'd been a text book on his bed with him. Better to trip her way across the floor to his desklamp.

Maneuvering her way carefully through the maze that was Fitz's floor, Jemma finally reached his desk and turned on the light. She sat down on his chair and looked at the man sleeping in the bed beside her. Considering how loud he could be when he was awake, she was always slightly surprised that he didn't snore. Or at least, not very loudly. It was a shame he kept his hair cut so short. She'd seen pictures of him when he was younger, and he had lovely curls. Apparently, now that he was in SHIELD, he wanted to be taken more seriously. She'd have to work on him to grow them back out... at least a bit.

Fitz shifted around in bed so that he was lying on his back. His mouth opened slightly and one arm flung out to the side, hitting the wall gently.

Jemma smiled and then her eyes got wide. "Oh!" she said softly. She was quite familiar with the phenomenon of nocturnal penile tumescence but it wasn't until she was face to face with it, so to speak, that she realized it might be one reason why Fitz hated her waking him up like this. Looking back, she remembered a number of times when her rousing him from sleep had been met with shrieks and sudden movements like the pulling up of covers or him cowering into a ball. Silly Fitz. It was a normal physiological action that contributed to penile health.

Somehow she doubted that telling him that would make him feel any better about her seeing it.

Leaning over, she shook his shoulder slightly. "Fitz!" she whispered.

Fitz groaned and rolled away from her hand.

"Fitz!" she shook his shoulder harder. "Wake up!"

"Mmehhennmmffunnnaa."

Jemma rolled her eyes. No wonder she was usually the first one at breakfast. Standing up, she moved to put both her hands on his shoulders and shake him again but instead she stepped on a twinkie by his bed and her foot slipped out from under her. She lost her balance immediately and gave a strangled scream just before she fell on top of him.

"The fu--!" Fitz's eyes shot open as a weight fell across his chest. Adrenaline pumped through his system as his body went into fight or flight mode and he looked for the danger. His head pivoted around for a moment before landing on the woman lying sideways across him. "Simmons?" he asked, blinking and completely confused.

Jemma, for her part, was still catching her breath. "Morning, Fitz," she grinned weakly. "Sorry for the mishap." She moved to lift herself off him, one hand landing on his shoulder and the other one on his thigh.

Fitz immediately stiffened up. Oh god, if she moved her hand she was going to touch him and he was going to be hard and she'd think it was because she was on top of him and then everything would be awkward and bad and terrible.

Jemma managed to get herself upright again. "Slipped on a twinkie," she explained, straightening her clothes.

Fitz started breathing again. "And so you thought you had to dive-bomb me in the middle of the night to let me know?" he asked sarcastically. He shifted to a sitting position, pulling his blankets into his lap as he did. He looked at her face carefully. She didn't look uncomfortable, just slightly embarrassed. That was probably from falling all over him, not the other thing. He relaxed.

Jemma rolled her eyes. "It's hardly the middle of the night," she argued. "It's almost 8am."

"On a _Saturday_ , 8am _is_ the middle of the night!"

"You're just grumpy because I woke you up."

" _No_ , I'm _grumpy_ because it's _8am_ and I went to bed at 4!" Fitz's legs twitched under the covers as his voice rose in turn with hers. He wanted to get up and move around so that he could rant properly, but his little problem hadn't gone away yet. "I'm _pissed_ because you jumped all over me when I was asleep!"

Fitz's neighbour pounded on the wall. "Just give it to her already, Fitz! Let the rest of us sleep!"

Fitz turned bright red. He really needed to work on a death ray at some point.

Jemma cleared her throat as her own face got slightly pinker. "Maybe we should discuss this somewhere else?"

"Yeah," Fitz nodded. "I just have to..." he threw off the covers to get up and then froze. Both of their eyes moved down to his lap where his penis was definitely awake. "Um," he started, swallowing quickly and having no idea what to say. "This is... I mean, it _isn't_..."

"It's morning wood," Jemma said calmly. "It's a sign of a healthy penis." When Fitz didn't move or respond, she continued. "Congratulations?"

Fitz's face was utterly blank, except for his eyes which were the definition of looks being able to kill. "Stop talking, please?"

Jemma nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a side note that it took 4 tries and a google search to spell "maneuver" in a way that didn't give me a red line underneath. This is a quality fic, people. I spell check that stuff. (for the record, I was trying to spell it manouevre but AO3 was having none of it).
> 
> Also, nocturnal penile tumescence is a fancy way of saying "morning wood" in case you didn't get that part.


	12. On Concentration and its Inherent Difficulties OR Leo Fitz Has a Nice Bum Pass It On

Jemma put the bag of food on the lab table and then passed Fitz his breakfast before taking her own. He'd insisted that she buy him a greasy diner breakfast sandwich in payment for the 'mental trauma' she had 'perpetrated' against him. Really, it was the easiest way to make him happy, and the way she was feeling, American diner food sounded fabulous.

"So, what are you thinking?" she asked after they'd both had a chance to have a few bites. She really _really_ hoped he had some ideas for cognitive testing that she could do as soon as possible. She was not enjoying her lack of focus or mental clarity _at all_.

Fitz took a sip of his tea and pushed his sandwich to one side. "I'm thinking," he pulled the keyboard close and started hitting the keys rapidly, "that we could do a simple assessment of concentration to start with. A matching game of some sort?" He looked up at her with raised eyebrows. At her nod, he continued. "It's easy enough for me to code that sort of thing, and we could make it so that the patterns themselves are totally random so the results won't be affected by repeating the test."

Jemma nodded again, reaching across the lab bench for pencil and paper. "Some sort of grid, perhaps? With values that need to be filled in based on an input?"

"Yes!" Fitz agreed excitedly. "And then we could rotate the grid as well as randomizing the input! Brilliant!" His fingers danced over the keyboard, making the idea come to life.

Jemma didn't really feel very brilliant. She had just been thinking that naughts and crosses would probably challenge her at this point. She looked over at Fitz with his brain firing on all cylinders and she was even more determined to get this test over with and get herself back to her room for another try at ... clearing her mind.

Fitz was in his element and totally focused on the screen in front of him, so Jemma went back to her breakfast and continued munching while she watched him. He tended to squint a lot when he was concentrating. She wondered if he might need glasses. Hmm. Fitz in glasses. She mulled that over and decided she liked the idea.

Then, she thought back on how he'd looked when he'd flung off his blankets that morning. After spending the previous evening touching his shirtless torso, seeing him in a t-shirt was hardly that intimate. The boxer-briefs on the other hand... those had been a revelation. Three days ago, she'd never even thought of the words "Fitz" and "sex" in the same sentence, but now it seemed that was all she could think of. Her eyes glazed over slightly as she remembered the way his butt had wiggled when he ran into the bathroom to change. Maybe Jamie'd had it right. Maybe Fitz _should_ give it to her.

Jemma's imagination was just getting warmed up to that idea when the subject of her fantasy interrupted her.

"-- try it?"

Jemma blinked herself back to the present. "I'm sorry?"

Fitz laughed slightly. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're going to do horribly on this concentration test. Have you heard anything I've said in the last 10 minutes?"

Jemma hung her head and groaned. "Nooooo." She couldn't remember ever being this completely useless before. How did people _cope_?

"Alright, alright," Fitz consoled her, getting up from his chair. He moved over and gave her a side hug, "It'll be fine, Simmons." Still half-hugging her, he piloted her over to his former seat. "Now, all you have to do is click on the space in the grid indicated by that letter/number combination there," he pointed helpfully.

"That's it?" Jemma asked. "That doesn't seem like it will be much of a challenge."

"Ah, right, you haven't been listening." Fitz put his hands up when Simmons' face turned into a thundercloud. "I'm not judging! Just stating!"

"Alright," Jemma conceded. She _had_ admitted it after all. "You can stop _stating_ now and start explaining."

Fitz decided not to make any more comments about Simmons' thought processes until after she'd... taken care of things. It wasn't worth the risk. " _Anyway,_ it looks simple right now but the thing is you have to keep clicking the indicated spaces until you've clicked on all of the squares in the grid." He pointed to the text space on the lower left, "And over here, it keeps track of how many mistakes you've made."

Jemma frowned. That _did_ sound more challenging. "And what's this 'side labels' check box about?"

" _That_ ," said Fitz with a certain amount of pride, "Is to increase the test's difficulty to it's highest level. If you uncheck that box," he pointed again, "all of the letters and numbers labeling the grid disappear!"

I'm certainly not doing _that_ right now, Jemma decided. "I think I'll just start with this, if it's all the same to you."

"Oh definitely," Fitz agreed. "That option is there for times when we're... operating at peak levels."

"So not now, then," Jemma smiled self-deprecatingly.

"No, not now."

\--------------------

Eight minutes and forty-three seconds later, Simmons sighed and leaned back in the desk chair. "Done!" She blinked several times and her eyes felt dry and painful. Obviously, she hadn't blinked as much as she should have when she was taking the test. "Now you do it and we can see how badly off I am."

Fitz gave her an apologetic look. "I've already done it," he said. "I'm about back to my usual state of mind, so I thought I'd be a decent baseline. If not for you, then at least for myself."

"Well?"

"Well... you did it in 8:43."

"And you?"

"... 2:17."

"... Oh."

"Yeah."

"That's... a significant difference." Jemma sat there, horrified at their relative times.

Fitz cleared his throat a bit awkwardly. "Yeah, but once you... y'know... you'll do much better!"

Jemma nodded weakly. "That's assuming I'm still _able_ to 'you know'" she finger quoted back to him.

Fitz gave a short laugh. "Uh, I'm pretty sure that's not something you have to worry about, Simmons."

"You don't know how much I've been trying!" she replied, the desperation clear in her voice.

"Well," Fitz's mouth flapped a few times as he tried to think of a good way to respond to that. "Is there anything you haven't tried yet?"

Jemma thought for a moment, weighing her options. "I can only think of one thing."

"There you go, then!" Fitz said, relieved. "Try that!"

Jemma raised her eyebrows at him and gave him a significant look. "It kind of requires a..." she looked around. It might be Saturday morning, but this _was_ a public lab. Better to be safe. " _...lab partner._ "

Fitz took a second to process what she'd said, but then the confusion cleared from his face and was replaced by a look of complete and utter understanding. " **Oh**."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) Any excuse for me to edit Fitz into wearing glasses.  
> 2) The "concentration test" that Fitz created is based on http://happybrain.org/concentration.php but with a few tweaks for the purposes of the fic. My own time was just over 2 minutes, which is how I decided how long Fitz would take. Not that I'm in his league mentally or anything, but it seemed like as good a way to make that call as any.


	13. Subtle Like a Brick to the Face

"So..." Fitz gestured helplessly as he frantically tried to think of something to say. "Boiler Room tonight, then?" Unless Simmons had a 'lab partner' that he didn't know about, he wasn't sure where else she'd get one. Is that sort of thing in the Yellow Pages? Did the Yellow Pages still exist? Were phone books still a thing? And if they _were_ still a thing, _why_ were they still a thing? The internet existed, after all, and --

"Fitz!" Jemma finally burst into his train of thought.

"Sorry, what?"

Jemma smiled at him fondly. "Your voice got all high at the end there," she observed.

Fitz blushed and sputtered. "Well, of  _course_ it did!"  he said defensively. "I'm not used to plotting out my best friend‘s night of, of, of, of..."  He struggled, looking for the right word as his hands clenched and unclenched trying to grasp it. Finally he gave up. "Sex," he finished lamely, an apologetic look on his face.

"... Right." Jemma sighed. Fitz never  _could_ take a hint. "The Boiler Room isn't exactly what I had in mind?" she tried again, her voice rising in a significant tone at the end.

Fitz nodded. Of course. "While alcohol lowers inhibitions and increases your likelihood of selecting a sexual partner, it can also affect male performance," he said matter-of-factly.  "So that's something to take into account in your current circumstances."

Jemma closed her eyes and sighed. "That's not actually the reason I was thinking of."

Fitz's eyebrows rose a bit in surprise. "You can't wait til tonight?" She was even worse off than he'd thought.

Setting her mouth in a firm line, Jemma decided to try being even  _more_ obvious. "No, Fitz," she explained, trying to keep the impatience out of her voice. "I don't want to go to the Boiler Room to find a  _lab partner_ because I've already got a **L** **ab. Partner**." She was really spelling it out for him now. 

Unfortunately, Fitz's face remained confused. "I didn't know you were seeing anyone."

Jemma clenched her teeth. " _Fitz?_ " she asked, trying to keep a lid on her temper. Yelling at him would not help right now.

"Yeah?"

" _You're_ my lab partner," she clarified.

"... What?" He was pretty sure he'd know if he and Simmons were dating. _Pretty_ sure. Maybe? "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Jemma rolled her eyes. "We've been partners in the lab since first year chem," she started counting on her fingers. "We're partners in the lab on independent projects,  _and_ we're partners in the lab on this research paper."

"Right." So far he was keeping up. Lab partners. The usual definition of lab partners. Good. "So...?" he gestured for her to explain further.

"So...," Jemma took a deep breath. "I was thinking why not be 'lab partners' in another way, too?" She looked at him expectantly.

Fitz returned her look with one of mild incomprehension. "Meaning...?" This was quite honestly the most confusing conversation he'd ever had. And he regularly discussed topics like quantum mechanics.

"Meaning, I'm propositioning you right now." If that wasn't clear enough, she didn't know what would be. 

"..." Fitz blinked, mouth opening and closing in a manner reminiscent of a goldfish.

"... for sex," she continued.

He made a strangled noise in the back of his throat.

"... with me." 

The noise ended in a bit of a whimper.

"Fitz?" Honestly, she really didn't know what else she could say. 

He gulped nervously but was still unable to make any noises that resembled human speech.

"Nod your head if you understand what I'm saying."

He nodded his head up and down slowly, and she could see the wheels still turning behind his eyes. Admittedly, this was all coming as a bit of a surprise to him, but she hadn't expected it to be _this_ much of a shock. It's not like she was the first girl to ever state an interest in him or anything. 

"Okay, good." She smiled at him reassuringly. He looked like a deer in the headlamps. "And does that sound like something you might want to consider?"

The nodding increased in speed. 

"Well, alright then." Jemma stood up from her stool with a sense of purpose. "I'll go and get the condoms." She ignored the squeak that came from Fitz's direction. "Give me a call when you're able to speak again and we'll talk it out." She reached up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Fitz!"

Fitz kept nodding, frozen in place, and watched as she walked out the door. That was definitely not the way he expected that conversation to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shoutout to that time Fitz was trying to say anything but boobs and ended up saying boobs


	14. Jemma Simmons Excels at Preparation

Fitz sat down on a lab stool and tried to process what had just happened. One minute he was coding a concentration assessment and the next minute Simmons was asking him for sex.

Squinting, he mentally replayed the conversation again. Yes, it happened. No, it still didn't make sense. How did she get from needing a "lab partner" to wanting her lab partner?

Did it really matter?

Fitz's face broke into a slow grin. Sex with Simmons. The day was looking up.

\---------------------

Jemma stood in the sexual well-being aisle of the pharmacy and considered her options. She already had a box of female condoms in her basket along with a tube of personal lubricant. She should have asked Fitz what size he was before she'd left, but she'd been too eager to get started. Shrugging, she bought a few different sizes. Any that didn't fit could just be cut up for dental dams.

As the cashier rang up her items, his eyebrows rose slightly. "Busy weekend planned?" he asked, attempting to keep his tone casual.

Jemma smiled widely back. "Here's hoping!" she replied cheerfully.

\---------------------

Fitz was biting his thumb nail as his left leg jiggled up and down. Sex with Simmons. _Sex_. With _Simmons_.

What if he was crap at it?

He wasn't like her. He didn't have the easy friendliness that made people feel comfortable or the sweet charm to lure in potential romantic partners. Simmons found it easy to date - the most difficult part was fitting it into her busy schedule. Fitz, on the other hand, had never spent the time to figure that part out. He was just starting to get better at being friends with people, but flirting? _Dating?_ **Sex?**

Fitz swiveled in his seat, doing what he always did when he wasn't sure what to do.

He called Simmons.

\---------------------

"Hey Fitz," Jemma smiled into her phone.

"Hey Simmons."

"Glad you're able to talk to me again."

"Ha. Ha." Fitz replied in his usual sarcastic tone. "How would _you_ have reacted if I'd said 'Hey Jemma, I think I'm going to leave SciTech and transfer into Operations'?" That was just as ridiculous, really.

"Oh, that's just _ridiculous_!" Jemma laughed.

Fitz frowned. "What? No it's not!" He could go to Operations. Sure he wasn't 7 feet tall and overgrown with muscle, there was more to it than just brute strength.

Jemma rolled her eyes. Only Fitz would get upset that someone agreed with him. "Fine. It's not," she placated him. "Anyway, I've got the condoms and things. Are you still at the lab?"

"Things?" What things? Fitz's eyebrows knit together in concern.

"I was thinking we could use my room because, no offense meant Fitz, but yours is a bit hazardous."

"Wha--"

"--as I believe was proved already this morning."

"... Alright, fine."

"Meet you there in 10 minutes?"

"Yeah."

\---------------------

 Jemma opened her door to Fitz's knock. She was feeling slightly nervous. Feeling nervous around Fitz was ... weird.

"Hi," she said a bit shyly.

Fitz waved awkwardly as he entered. "Hi," he replied somewhat woodenly. Were they really going to do this? Really? "Um..."

"Yes?" Jemma asked eagerly.

Fitz shrugged his shoulders. "Just 'um' really." What was the etiquette here? 

"Oh, this is _ridiculous!_ " Jemma decided. "We're two consenting adults who want to have sex with each other! Why are we being such idiots about this?"

Fitz laughed wryly, "Well, I don't know about you, but for me it's mostly just not having a clue what I'm doing."

"I know how you feel!" Jemma agreed. "If you'd told me a week ago that I'd be about to have sex with my best friend in the world, I'd have thought you were crazy!"

" _Right?_ " Fitz agreed. "If you'd told me I'd be having sex with _anyone_ I'd have thought you were bonkers!"

"What about Celeste?"

"What about her?"

"Well, she was certainly trying hard enough last weekend!" Jemma recalled their classmate flirting outrageously with Fitz all night at the Boiler Room. She'd been shocked when he hadn't gone home with her.

"She _was_?" Fitz was stunned.

Jemma shook her head. "Considering how obvious I had to be with you, I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you didn't notice."

"Really?" Celeste? How had he not picked up on that?

"Hey," Jemma smacked him lightly on the arm. "She _had_ her chance! It's my turn now!" she laughed.

"What?" Fitz grinned back. "It's not like I was going to walk out on you and go knock on _her_ door instead!"

" _Good_ ," Jemma replied softly. She took a step closer to him and cupped the back of his head with her hand.

Fitz looked down at her with a mixture of excitement and terror. This was happening. He was going to kiss Jemma Simmons.

 


	15. Ahead of the Learning Curve

Jemma felt her heart speed up a bit as her fingers touched the back of Fitz's neck. She was really going to do this wasn't she?

She leaned up slightly and pulled him down to meet her and their lips touched. Her eyes closed and she pressed slightly harder. Her brow wrinkled. She drew her head back a few inches and looked at Fitz. 

"Is anything the matter?" she asked. Maybe he'd changed his mind.

Fitz's eyes were closed and his lips were puckered. He opened one eye. "No?" Great Fitz. Way to sound confident.

Jemma waited patiently, an expectant look on her face.

Fitz sighed and removed her hands from around his shoulders. "Look, it's just that I've never..." he looked down at his shoes and then back up at her again. "I've never done this before, okay?" Just because he knew she wouldn't laugh at him didn't mean he wasn't still defensive.

"Ohh," Jemma said with understanding. She moved in and gave him a hug. "That's okay, Fitz!" She gave him her biggest smile. "Virginity is a social construct and nothing to be embarrassed about!"

"It's not that..." Fitz began awkwardly. "I mean, it _is_ that, but it's not _just_ that..."

Jemma put on her most sympathetic face. "I know we're doing this because I'm... in a bad way," she phrased it delicately. "But I don't want you to worry! I'll tell you exactly what I need you to do, okay? You'll be great!"

Fitz looked at her with a certain amount of skepticism on his face.

"Tell you what," Jemma offered. "How about we just start with kissing and go from there? Then you'll be nice and relaxed." Jemma moved to sit on her bed and pat the space next to her. "And if you decide that we're going too fast or that you don't want to do it anymore, just tell me okay?" She nodded at him encouragingly.

Fitz bit his lip and looked down again. "Kissing?"

"Mmhmm. We'll go nice and slow."

He gulped a bit. "It's just that..."

"Yes?"

He took a deep breath and released it slowly. "That was my first one." He blushed and looked at anything but her.

"What was your first what?"

" _That_ , just now, was my first kiss."

" _Ohhh_ ," Jemma said with sudden comprehension. That explained why he hadn't kissed her back. She mentally revised her expectations for the day. She again patted the bed next to her.

Fitz shuffled over and sat down, leaving a bit of a gap between them. He folded his hands in his lap and stared down at them. "So, you don't want to... y'know, anymore do you?" he asked glumly.

Jemma scooched over until their thighs touched and jogged his leg with hers. "Of course I do," she said soothingly. "But let's walk before we run, yeah?"

"You mean you still want to?" Fitz's hopes rose up from where they had plummeted. The way Simmons had been acting the last two days, he figured she'd want to go as fast as possible.

"Mmhmm," she leaned in again. "As long as you still do."

Fitz leaned as well. "Mmhmm." He closed his eyes and pressed his lips very softly against hers.

This time he was able to appreciate how soft they felt and how kissing her made his lips tingle in a way they never had before. This time, when she pressed her lips more firmly against his, he didn't freeze up. They both tilted their heads and Jemma's lips parted slightly before closing again. Fitz liked the way that felt and did the same to her. He could feel her smile slightly before she moved her lips over his again. This kissing thing was great.

Jemma moved her right hand to Fitz's shoulder and her left back to the nape of his neck. The way Fitz was mirroring her felt strange at first, until she realized that here she had a man who was going to kiss her exactly the way she liked to be kissed. After a few more moments of the gentlest, sweetest kiss she could remember having, Jemma pulled away. She could feel how flushed her own face felt and saw that Fitz's matched hers.

"Okay?" she asked, taking in his widened eyes.

Fitz nodded vigorously. "Very." Kissing was definitely on the list of activities he wanted to be spending more time on. He wasn't sure what he'd cut down on to do it, but he'd figure something out. He didn't really _need_ six hours of sleep every night, did he?

"Shall we keep going like that, or try something else?" Jemma was trying so hard to keep a level head and make sure that Fitz was comfortable, but her lymbic system was screaming at her to jump his bones. She squeezed her thighs together instead.

Fitz had definitely enjoyed the kissing, so he wasn't sure how to answer her. "What's the something else?" Always best to base decisions on complete data sets.

"Still kissing," Jemma explained. "But... deeper." She looked down at Fitz's lips and licked her own before looking back at his eyes. "And you can hold me, too, if that's alright?"

Fitz's face lit up. "I can?"

Jemma nodded, laughing. "Of course you can!" He really was adorable. "If I was willing to let you put your penis inside me, I think I'll be okay with your hand on my waist!."

He chuckled in response. "Alright, alright! I'm new a this!" he threw his hands up in mock defense. "Be nice to me!"

Jemma took his right hand and placed it on her waist. "Nice enough?"

He swallowed. "Getting there."

She shifted her position so that she was sitting sideways on the bed and then slowly moved in to kiss him again. She started like their previous kiss: softly and gently, just barely touching his lips. Then, she moved her lips across his and pressed a bit harder, making a soft sound when he reciprocated. After another moment or two, she opened her lips and her tongue moved delicately out between them and brushed over Fitz's.

Fitz's hand tightened its grip on Simmons' waist and he felt his cock twitch in his jeans. He was definitely enjoying the something else. Taking her instruction, he moved his own tongue out to touch hers and was rewarded with a gasp. He was pretty sure that was a good sign, but in case it wasn't, he retracted his tongue.

Jemma whimpered in disappointment at the disappearance of Fitz's tongue and followed his with her own. They were both pressing harder and opening lips wider now. Fitz's left hand moved to the other side of her waist and squeezed as Jemma's hands went into his hair.

Soon, they were both moaning and gasping for breath. This time it was Fitz who broke the kiss.

"Holy fuck, Jemma!" he exclaimed. "Why'd you never tell me it felt this good?"

Jemma panted softly and grinned back at him. "I suppose it hadn't occurred to me that I knew something about it you didn't."

The smile Fitz gave her in return was utterly sexy. "What else can you teach me?"

"What else do you want to learn?"

"Everything."

"Everything?"

" _Everything_."

"That might take a while."

"Do I look like I'm going anywhere?"

"Now that you mention it, no."

"Well then."

"Well then." Jemma moved even closer in to his side and swung her legs up over his lap. "Let's get started."


	16. Worst Simile Ever

Fitz slid his hands from Simmons' waist up her back to her shoulders and back down again. She felt fantastic and the noises she was making... those little gasps and moans just made him want to kiss her deeper and squeeze her closer against him.

Jemma wrapped her arms more securely around Fitz's neck and pulled herself forward until she was practically in his lap. She knew she should be going slow, but the way Fitz was kissing her... he always _had_ been a quick learner, and he was proving that in spades right now. An hour ago he'd never kissed anyone before, and now he was using his lips and tongue to make her whole body tingle.

Of course, _half_ an hour ago things had been a bit more awkward.

\------------------

When Jemma said, "Let's get started," Fitz took her at her word. He pulled her face hard against his.

Too hard, in fact. They both squealed in pain as their teeth bruised the insides of their lips.

Jemma pulled away and rubbed her top lip with her fingers. Fitz, of course, looked mortified so she gave him an encouraging smile. "Full points for enthusiasm," she joked.

Fitz cringed inside and out. "Yeah, but negative 50 points for execution," he sighed wryly. He'd thought he was getting the hang of it.

"Oh, hardly _that_ many marks off!" Jemma insisted. It wasn't her first awkward kiss, and it wouldn't be her last. "And anyway, you've just _started_ kissing. You can't expect to be an expert at it immediately!"

"But..." Fitz opened his mouth to argue.

Jemma placed a finger across his lips. She'd never done that before but considering how effective it was, she'd have to remember it. "But nothing!" She leaned forward and kissed him gently. "You just need to practice is all." She started kissing him again, softly at first and then deeper.

He followed her lead and slid his lips over hers, touching their tongues against each other. "Practice?" he asked, pulling back for a moment.

Jemma nodded, her eyes still half-closed. "It makes perfect, after all."

Fitz tried kissing her again. This time, he started slowly like she had and gradually deepened it. The way she was kissing him back told him he was improving. Practice, eh? He could definitely do that any time she wanted. He pushed his tongue farther into her mouth.

Jemma coughed and leaned back again. "Too much!" she exclaimed.

"Sorry!" Fitz apologized with a look of chagrin.

"It's okay! It's just that --"

"It felt so good I just wanted to --"

"-- watch for the gag reflex --"

"-- more of that feeling and --"

"-- try again?"

"-- one more time?"

They smiled at each other. People always teased them when they spoke over each other that no one could understand a word they were saying, but they always understood each other.

Jemma nodded and motioned for him to kiss her again. Just before their lips met, she thought she'd add one more piece of advice. "If kissing is the meal, tongue is like salt. You want some because it makes it so much better, but too much and the whole thing's ruined, right?"

Fitz chuckled. "Got it," he reassured her. This time when he kissed her he started off stronger than before, pushing their lips together more insistently, but he was still careful of their teeth. He licked her lips lightly and wiggled his tongue between them, but kept it just barely inside.

Jemma sucked his tongue between her lips and then wiggled her own tongue into his mouth. "Mmmmuch better." Her fingers tangled into the hair at the back of his head and pulled him closer.

Fitz's chest swelled with pride as they kissed. "So I'm getting the hang of it?" he asked against her lips before kissing her again.

Jemma nodded and moaned into his mouth.

Fitz slid his hands from Simmons' waist up her back to her shoulders and back down again. She felt fantastic and the noises she was making... those little gasps and moans just made him want to kiss her deeper and squeeze her closer against him.

Jemma wrapped her arms more securely around Fitz's neck and pulled herself forward until she was practically in his lap. She knew she should be going slow, but the way Fitz was kissing her... he always _had_ been a quick learner, and he was proving that in spades right now. Her fingers went to the buttons on the front of his shirt and undid the top one.

Fitz's eyebrows rose as he felt Simmons start to undress him. His heart, already beating faster because of their kissing, threatened to burst right out of his chest. "Jemma," he moaned into her mouth as she undid another button.

She moved back just far enough to speak. "Is this okay?" she asked, fingers hesitating on button number three. "Am I going too fast?"

Fitz shook his head and kissed her again. His own hands moved underneath her sweater, feeling the skin above her hips. It was so smooth and warm. His fingers were on fire as they moved over her ribs to her back.

Jemma's fingers, now that they had permission, made quick work of the rest of his button down and quickly pushed it off his shoulders.

Fitz struggled to get his arms out of the sleeves without stopping their kiss. He felt Simmons laugh against his lips as his arms flailed behind him, but he refused to stop kissing her. When he finally managed to break free, he threw his shirt across the room. He was never going to wear _that_ traitorous garment again. His hands immediately went back up under Simmons' sweater to rest on either side of her hips, his thumbs stroking across her belly. Was it okay to move them up? It was probably okay to move them up. He was pretty sure that if he moved them up, Simmons would be okay with it, but...

Jemma released his lips from hers for long enough to pull her sweater up and over her head, then moved back to kiss him again. The gobsmacked look on his face made her pause, however. Following his eyeline, she looked down at her own chest. Right, he hadn't seen those before.

Fitz's brain refused to let him think about anything but the sight in front of him. "Boobs," he said under his breath as he took in Simmons' bra and the soft flesh encased in it.

Jemma couldn't help but laugh.

Fitz shook his head to clear it and blushed. "Sorry, it's just..."

She kissed him quickly. "I know," she smiled. "Do you need a minute?"

He looked back at her a bit bashfully. "Is that okay?"

She nodded encouragingly. "Very." The way he was looking at her like she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen... she had only ever seen him look at things like that in the lab. It made her feel like one of the wonders of the universe.

Fitz looked her in the eyes then, complete sincerity radiating from his face. "You're amazing."

Jemma's stomach dropped in the most wonderful way. She leaned forward to kiss him again.

A knock sounded at the door, interrupting them.

Jemma and Fitz looked at each other. "Be quiet," Jemma mouthed. "Pretend we're not here."

Fitz nodded in complete agreement. The last thing he wanted right now was a chat with another student.

"Miss Simmons?" a voice asked. Jemma closed her eyes in pain. That was Dr. Weaver's voice. There was another knock.

Jemma grabbed her sweater, giving Fitz an apologetic look. She pulled it over her head quickly and tried to pat her hair into some semblance of order.

Fitz felt himself begin to panic. He jumped off Simmons' bed and pulled the covers straight again. Then he sat down in her desk chair, crossing and uncrossing his legs awkwardly.

Jemma nodded at him and then opened the door. "Dr. Weaver," she said brightly. "What a nice surprise!" She really had to get better at lying.

Dr. Weaver took in her student's flushed face and mussy hair, the man's shirt crumpled on the floor by the door, and the man in question sitting awkwardly at the desk and breathing hard. "I think this is a bad time," she apologized. Dr. Hall owed her ten dollars.

"Not at all!" Jemma gushed, unable to stop herself. Why did she have to be so ruddy polite all the time.

Dr. Weaver smiled knowingly. "I wanted to meet with you about your final project, but I can see you and Fitz are already working on something." To put it mildly. "Why don't you send me an email later on and we can make an appointment? I don't want to interrupt you any further."

Jemma blushed an even brighter pink. 'Yes, ma'am." As her instructor left, she closed the door and then turned to lean against it with an expression of anguish. "Oh my god!"

Fitz could only agree with her.


	17. Anglo-Sexiness

Fitz stood up from the desk chair and moved over to give Simmons a hug. "Did you want to stop for now?" He hoped not, but at the same time Dr. Weaver wasn't exactly an aphrodisiac.

Jemma glared back at him. "Fitz," she said with a determination he was quite familiar with. "I will stop if that's what you want, but then I _will_ go out there," she pointed towards the door behind her, "and find _someone_ who will get me off." She straightened her shoulders and blew her hair out of her face, trying to regain her composure. "I'm sorry, but if I don't have an orgasm soon, I think I might explode." She set her jaw again. "And if I'm going to blow up, I don't want it to be for a reason as stupid as this." She met his eyes and pinned him where he stood. "I want it to be saving the world."

Fitz gulped and nodded. "Is it weird that when you get all scary like that, it's also really sexy?" The next time they were arguing in the lab, he was going to remember this moment. That would definitely make life... interesting.

"If that means you want to keep going, then take off your shirt and get on the bed."

He scrambled to pull his t-shirt over his head while simultaneously making his way back across her room. Predictably, his head got stuck in the cotton material and he tripped over her area rug, stumbling for a few steps before righting himself. He heard Simmons laugh, but didn't care. When he was finally able to divest himself, he threw himself down on the mattress and turned to look at his best friend. She was once more removing her sweater, and this time she was removing her jeans as well.

"Oh my holy Swiss Jesus," he breathed as he took in the sight.

Jemma laughed at him again. Sex with Fitz was definitely good for her ego. She moved over to where he lay on her bed, propping himself up on his elbows. "Again, liking your enthusiasm," she grinned.

Fitz grinned back. "Again, missing points on the execution."

"Still not caring," she replied, straddling his thighs and leaning down towards him.

He took a few shallow breaths as his heartbeat exploded again. "Me neither." He brought his hands back to her waist and leaned up to kiss her.

She met his kiss and sat down on his thighs, trying to decide whether or not she should move up to where she really wanted to be sitting. As their kiss deepened and their moans got louder, she decided she needed more than what she was getting right now. Reaching behind her, she grabbed Fitz's hands.

He broke their kiss, a concerned look on his face. "I'm sorry," he apologized immediately. He shouldn't have presumed.

Simmons pressed their foreheads together. This boy, really. "Don't be," she reassured him.

"But..."

"I just want to move them..." she slid them over her hips until they were firmly planted on her ass, "Here."

Fitz swallowed a few times before he was able to get any noises out. "Okay," he said in a voice about an octave higher than his usual.

Jemma rolled her hips and enjoyed how Fitz's eyes rolled back in his head. "You can squeeze, you know," she whispered in his ear before kissing and sucking on his neck.

His hands immediately gripped her more tightly. "Oh god, Jemma," he gasped. How had he never known how good his neck felt before? This was amazing. Simmons was amazing. Life was amazing.

This was definitely better, but she still needed _more_. Fitz wasn't usually this passive about _anything_ , and she couldn't very well tell him what to do the whole time, could she? Maybe he just needed direction?

"Fitz?" she asked, removing her lips from his neck and looking him in the eyes. Or at least, she would have looked him in the eyes, but they were closed. "Fitz!" she said again, more insistently this time.

"Hmm?" he opened his eyes slowly. She was looking cross again. "Sorry?" he tried again. He really was just utter shite at all of this.

Jemma sighed and moved off him, pulling him up to a sitting position and holding his hand. "You don't have to be sorry, Fitz," she explained, carefully trying to keep the long-suffering tone out of her voice. "I just want to clarify some things for you so that you'll feel more comfortable is all, alright?"

He nodded, looking at their joined hands, but didn't say anything.

"Fitz," she pulled his head up with her other hand to make him look at her. "I want to be absolutely clear, and I want you to listen carefully, okay?"

"Okay."

"I want to have sex with you," she started. "I want to touch every part of your body, and I want you to touch every part of mine. I want you to feel comfortable touching, squeezing, kissing, and licking every part of me that you want to touch, squeeze, kiss, and lick. I want you to let me know if there's any part of your body you're not comfortable with me touching, squeezing, kissing, or licking. I want you to make me feel good, and I want to make you feel good too." She paused and tried to think of anything she might have missed. "And I want you to know that this isn't the only time this has to happen." That seemed to brighten him up considerably. "And that if it doesn't happen this time, that's alright too." It might kill her, but she'd do it. "Do you understand all that?"

Fitz nodded. "I do, yeah."

"Okay, so is there any part of me you want to touch? Or part of you that you want me to touch?"

He blushed red right to the roots of his hair as all of the fantasies he'd ever had about her rose up in his mind and clamored for attention. He forced most of them back down because they were all about him and his needs. Today was for Simmons. "I'd quite like to..." he hesitated, not sure how to phrase it. "I'm not sure what to call it," he admitted awkwardly.

Simmons blinked. "I'm assuming you don't mean that you don't know what it's called," she said carefully.

Fitz rolled his eyes. "Of course I know what it's called, it's just..." he his waved vaguely as he searched for the way to phrase what he was thinking. "It's just that _anatomical_ names aren't very... sexy." He raised his eyebrows, hoping that she understood what he was saying.

"Ohh," Jemma said with full comprehension. "Right. Well." The fact was that she found all of those words she'd been told that ladies shouldn't use to be very exciting. She cleared her throat. "Feel free to use the... Anglo-Saxon versions, if you'd like," she blushed.

"Are you sure?"

"Mmhmm."

"Well in that case, I'd like to..." he still hesitated. It was silly to be unsure when he was half-naked and she was sitting right next to him in her knickers and bra, but he still was. He took a deep breath. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. "I'd-like-to-suck-on-your-tits-and-finger-your-pussy," he said in a rush.

Jemma's eyebrows rose as she replayed that in her mind at half speed and extracted what he'd said. "You would?" Things were definitely looking up for her.

"... If that's alright."

Jemma reached around behind her back and unsnapped her bra, sliding it down her arms before dropping it on the floor. "It's fucking _fantastic_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Oh my holy Swiss Jesus" is an interjection that I stole from my friend isensmith over on tumblr. It's my new favourite phrase, and I just had to make Fitz use it.


	18. Ya think?

Fitz stopped breathing when Simmons reached around to undo her bra. It was like time slowed down to a crawl as the material loosened. He heard a rushing sound in his ears as she slid the delicate straps down her arms and revealed her naked breasts. He wasn't sure what she'd just said, but it sounded happy.

Jemma smiled at the absolutely stunned look on Fitz's face and couldn't help wondering if she'd had a similar look on her own face the first time she'd seen someone naked. She reached forward and pulled one of his hands to touch her breast.

Fitz's whole body jerked when his hand cupped soft sphere of Simmon's breast. There was no way he was going to last long enough to even try to have sex with her. "Stick with the plan," he muttered to himself under his breath.

"What?" Simmons asked. Something about a flan?

Fitz chewed the inside of his cheek for a moment, deciding what to do. Considering what was happening, she probably wouldn't mind that much. He might as well just tell her.

"I--" his voice came out all high again, so he cleared his throat. "I, um, I'd like to uh... That is, I mean..." he sputtered.

Jemma rolled her eyes. "Fitz, considering what you just said to me, I can't imagine there being something more difficult for you to say."

He took a deep breath and massaged her breast, enjoying the way she leaned into his hand. "I've thought about this ... before."

Jemma pulled his other hand up to her chest, moving it so that her nipple was trapped between his thumb and his forefinger. "You have?" She closed her eyes as he squeezed them together slightly and her lips parted into a sigh when he did the same on the other side.

"Mmhmm," he watched as the pleasure appeared on her face. "I've thought about... touching you... like this... before." He leaned in and kissed the hollow of her neck, sucking on her skin.

Her breathing sped up as his lips traveled along the column of her neck. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders again, one hand splayed out across his back and the other tangled in his curls. "Oh god, Fitz," she breathed into his ear. She'd never been anyone's fantasy before. At least, not that she knew of. "Keep going... don't stop." Now both her hands were on his head, pulling him up for a kiss that had their tongues tangling again. He got better at it every time, and his hands were doing wonderful things to her breasts.

Fitz leaned into their kiss and moved his hands. One supported her back and the other pressed into the mattress as he lowered her down into the covers. As she moved her legs up onto the bed, he shifted his own so one of his thighs was between hers, his other knee bent on the mattress to keep his weight off her. His hand moved slowly from her back to her hip and down her thigh, enjoying the warmth of her under his fingers. He still couldn't quite believe this was happening.

He lifted his lips from hers to tell her how amazing she was, but instead a strange gurgling noise came out. He froze, a look of intense consternation on his face.

"Fitz?" Jemma asked, knowing the answer. "Was that you?"

"Um. Yeah."

Again, she asked knowing full well what the answer would be, "Are you hungry?"

"Um. Yeah."

She sighed and dropped her arms back to the bed in defeat. "Alright, let's get you some food."

Fitz's brows furrowed and his lips screwed up into a rictus of disbelief. "Are you _mad_? Are you actually, _literally_ out of your mind right now?" Apparently, Simmons completely lost it when she was horny.

Jemma was pleasantly surprised by this turn of events. " _You_ don't want to stop for food?" she confirmed. " _You_?" She made a show of placing a hand on his forehead to check for a fever.

"Ha. Ha. Ha," he rolled his eyes. "Look, we had breakfast early and then we skipped lunch, of _course_ my stomach is going to make noise!" He looked her right in the eye and dropped his hips down onto hers, pushing his jeans hard into her panties so she could feel exactly how hard he was. "But if you think _for one second_ that I'm leaving this room right now," he rolled his hips into hers, making them both shudder with desire, "then you're a madwoman. It's as simple as that."

Jemma had no response for that other than to drag him back down by his hair to kiss her again. She wrapped one leg around his hips and slid the other one out from under him to bend around his waist. Her own hips were moving hard and fast against him and she couldn't stop the moans that came out of her mouth. Fitz just chose her over food. The rush of power that gave her sent a flush across her body.

Fitz closed his eyes tight and tried not to think about what was happening below his waist. He was trying to get Simmons off, not himself. Once more, he started kissing his way down her neck and this time he made it to her breasts, licking his way to her nipples.

Jemma gasped when he finally made contact and her hips thrust upwards of their own accord. Her breathing was rapid now and her hands were clenching in Fitz's hair and scratching at his back.

This was even better than he'd thought it would be when he was wanking alone in his bunk. He kissed her breasts with gusto, licking them and swirling his tongue around her nipples. It was her nipples that caused the biggest gasps and moans, so that's where he decided to focus his efforts, capturing one between his lips and sucking on it.

"Yes, Fitz!" Jemma panted. "Just like that!" She could feel the heavy roiling feeling in her gut and was regretting the fact that she was still wearing panties.

Feeling pride and confidence well up, Fitz captured her other nipple between his fingers and pinched.

"Mmm..." Jemma moaned. "A bit softer, please?" It still felt good, but not as good as his lips. "And pull on it just a bit, like you're doing with your mouth?" She was _not_ going to let her orgasm run away from her one more time.

He loosened his grip slightly and pulled ever so gently in time with his sucking. The noises Simmons made in response to that were the best yet. He thrust his hips against hers again, rubbing the crotch of his jeans up and down the cotton between her legs.

"More, Fitz, _more!_ " Jemma moaned, tightening her thighs around him like a vice. The feeling in the pit of her stomach was growing and she needed it to explode. Taking the hand he was using to stroke her thigh, she moved it between her legs. "Please?" she gasped.

Fitz moved off her and gripped the sides of her underwear. He looked at her with a question on his face, and she nodded eagerly in reply.

Jemma started massaging her own breasts and nipples as Fitz pulled her knickers down and off her legs. It was all she could do to stop herself from just reaching down and getting herself off immediately. She was so very close...

Fitz shifted his position a bit, staring at the naked woman lying there in front of him. After a moment in which all he could hear was their heavy breathing and moans, he slid his hand up her thigh one more time, this time not stopping until he touched the warm wetness in between them.

"Fuck _yes,_ Fitz!" Jemma almost screamed, her head thrown back against her pillow and her hips thrusting up to meet his fingers.

He slid his fingers up and down her pussy until he found her entrance. Pushing two of them inside, he watched her face as he moved them in and out. _He_ was making her eyes squeeze shut like that. _He_ was making her head toss and turn all over her pillow. This was the most amazing feeling in the world.

"My clit," Jemma gasped. "Rub my clit!" Just a little bit more...

"Where's your--"

Jemma grabbed his hand and mashed his fingers right on top of her button. " **YES!** " she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Fitz jerked slightly in surprise at her reaction. This moved his fingers on her clit in a wonderful way and she kept screaming. Taking that as a good sign, he continued to rub her clit, pausing only to slide his fingers inside her to get them wet again.

Jemma shuddered through her orgasm, gripping the sheets on either side of her and pushing her pussy so hard against Fitz's hand she wondered if she might end up with bruises. Finally, when the only noises she was capable of making were squeaks, she collapsed back onto her bed. Reaching down, she removed Fitz's fingers and then pulled him down next to her to cuddle.

"I reckon you needed that," Fitz said dryly.

Jemma laughed weakly, still catching her breath. "I think perhaps I did," she agreed.


	19. Better Make It Four, Just In Case

Jemma's whole body felt so incredibly relaxed, like her muscles had finally loosened after being clenched for too long. Her fingers idly stroked through Fitz's hair as she smiled at him leaning over her. "Thanks for that," she whispered with a smile.

Fitz kissed her softly. "Believe me when I say, **Any. Time**."

She laughed and kissed him back. "As soon as I can move again, I'll return the favour." He certainly deserved it.

Fitz looked down at his lap and then back at her with  an awkward smile. "Yeah, that's uh..." he cleared this throat. "That's not necessary." At least, not immediately. Maybe in another five minutes?

"But I _want_ to, Fitz!" Jemma argued, palming his face and running her thumb over his mouth. She really did want to make him feel as good as he'd made her feel. "Unless you've changed your mind?" They'd already gone quite far considering that morning he'd never even kissed someone before.

His eyes got wide and he shook his head almost violently. " **No!** " he waved his hands. "No no nononono!" He had to make this absolutely clear. "I have definitely _not_ changed my mind! Not at all! Not in the _slightest!"_ He didn't want to leave a doubt in her mind on this point. "I definitely, absolutely, 100% want to have sex with you!"

"Then..."

"It's just... um..." he cleared his throat again. "I've um..." he looked around her room a bit. "Already uh..." he closed his eyes and cringed slightly. "Finished?" He opened one eye to check her reaction.

Jemma blinked up at him. "You have?" She supposed it made sense, this being his first time and all. She was just surprised she hadn't noticed. "When?" she asked with genuine curiosity.

Fitz blushed and ran his hand along the back of his neck. "When I ... um..." God, you'd think saying these things would be easier now that he'd done them. "When I took off your erm..." He took a deep breath. "Your panties."

"Really?" Jemma asked, a huge smile spreading across her face.

"Yeah," Fitz coughed and tried to hide his face in her pillow.

Jemma stopped him before he could bury his face completely and turned him towards her for a kiss. "That is," kiss, "the _sweetest_ thing," kiss, "any man," kiss, "has said to me," kiss, "after sex."

Now it was Fitz's turn to blink at her. "What kind of men have you been sleeping with, then?"

"Shh. Don't ruin it."

He moved down a bit in her bed and wrapped his arms around her to spoon her. "I'm just saying, if that's the sweetest thing --"

She grabbed his arm and tightened it around her, leaning back against his chest. "Fitz, I swear --"

"-- could at least say you're --"

"-- don't shut up right n--"

"... tiful, amazing, wonderfmmmmm," he closed his eyes as Simmons turned to him and kissed him again. He could definitely get used to this way of ending an argument."I'm just _saying_ _,_ " he teased.

Jemma playfully pushed him away from her and then got out of her bed. "C'mon!" She felt his eyes on hers as she moved over to her dresser and started opening drawers.

"What are you doing?" Fitz asked. She was putting on clothes. Why was she putting on clothes?

She tossed him his tshirt from where it had fallen on the floor. "Get dressed," she instructed him. The disappointed look on his face made her move back over to her bed and kiss him. "I just want to get over to the dining hall before it closes is all," she explained, pointing to the alarm clock on her bedside table. It read 8:45 and they stopped serving food at 9:00. "You're not the only one who skipped lunch."

Fitz pulled his shirt over his head in record time and jumped up from the mattress. "Well, hurry up then!" he urged her. Missing one meal in the name of sex was understandable. Missing two? That was just plain _unhealthy_.

Jemma pressed her lips together in an effort at not laughing. "Um, Fitz?" she asked, coughing delicately. When he met her eyes, she glanced significantly down at his crotch. "You might want to change your trousers first."

He looked down at the large wet stain on the front of his jeans. "Oh god," he muttered. "I look like I've wet myself," he wailed.

"I'll finish getting dressed," Jemma problem-solved, "and you run to your room for a clean pair of jeans. We'll meet at the dining hall, alright?" She gave him her best smile. "First one there gets enough for two?"

Fitz grabbed his bookbag and held it in front of himself as he moved quickly to her door. "Enough for three!" he insisted as he rushed out into the hallway. Times like these, he wished he did more cardio.


	20. A Whole New FitzSimmons

Ten minutes later, they were sitting in the cafeteria with an embarrassing amount of food on the table between them.

"Oh yeah," Fitz mumbled around a bite of pizza. "I forgot to tell you!"

"Tell me what?" Jemma asked after swallowing a fry.

"That wrist monitor you were cooking up," he dug into his bag and pulled out the prototype he'd made. "I miniaturized it," he held it out for her inspection.

"Fitz!" she marveled at its tiny size. "This is--"

"--fraction the size--"

"--eminently portable and--"

"--lightweight, durable--"

"--ily concealed so--"

"--have to figure out--"

"--think we could probab--"

"--to hide it."

"--under a simple patch."

They exchanged a look of mutual admiration.

"Perfect."

"Will do nicely."

Fitz's neighbour Jamie shook his head as he passed their table. "Get a room, will you?" He stuffed his tray in the return rack and then came back to clarify. "Just not Fitz's room, okay? I don't want to hear that."

Jemma quickly put her hand over Fitz's to calm him down and keep him in his seat. She rolled her eyes at her friend and smiled. "Don't worry Jamie," she replied. "We'll use mine instead." Turning back to Fitz, she continued with their conversation. "So between the monitor and the assessment you coded this morning..."

"I've got a few ideas for some graphing software we can use to track our data, too."

"Excellent! I was thinking we should have some additional tests involving problem-solving and..."

Jamie shook his head and wandered off. Those two were so clueless they'd never get together.

By 10pm when the dining hall was closing and they were walking back to the dorms, they'd managed to create a solid plan for their research.

"I can't believe that only took an hour!" Simmons shook her head in amazement.

"Well, we _are_ both geniuses," Fitz replied. " _And_ we're both..." he searched for the right phrase.

"... working at peak efficiency?" Simmons supplied.

"Exactly."

"Imagine if we could work this well together all the time!" Jemma enthused.

Fitz tried to look casual. "Well... I mean... we _could_..." he shrugged nonchalantly.

She grinned back. "We _definitely_ could."

"In the meantime, though?"

"Yeah?"

"You still haven't proofed my paper. The real one, I mean."

"... I got distracted."

"What are the odds of you getting _un_ -distracted, do you think?" he teased. "I mean, I _do_ have to get it done by end of term..."

"If you want to ' _un-distract'_ me," she replied, employing full finger quotes. "Don't wear those jeans next time." A devilish grin appeared on her face.

"What?" Fitz looked utterly confused. 

Jemma reached out and cupped his backside. "They make your bum look _fantastic_." She swatted him playfully and then jogged off to her dorm, calling over her shoulder. "I'll read it tonight and get it back to you!"

Fitz stood rooted to the spot for a moment, watching her leave. This was the start of a whole new FitzSimmons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm ending this here because after writing 20 chapters in under two weeks, I need a break.  
> That said, I'm up for a sequel if you are. Just give me a week or two to binge on other people's fics again first :)


End file.
